The Essex Street Water Gate, London WC2
A plate from The Romance of London by Alan Ivimey (1931).
He crossed the road and went into the darkness towards the little steps under the archway leading into Essex Street, and I let him go. And that was the last I ever saw of him.
The Diamond Maker (1894) by HG Wells
London’s water gates date from the time before the building of the embankment and the road on the north side of the river, when the tidal wash reached a lot closer to the buildings (and former palaces) that follow The Strand and Fleet Street. The gate in Essex Street is still impressive and was used for a time as an emblem by Methuen publishers when they had their premises here.
Methuen imprint (1931).
An etching by Edgar Holloway (1934).
Methuen imprint (1948).
The Water Gate as it was on the afternoon of 18th May, 2006.
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2 comments or trackbacks
#1 posted by Eroom Nala
May 24th, 2006
The windows and the arch make it look like a robotic unhappy face.
why is the left pillar at a slight angle in the engraving?
#2 posted by John
May 24th, 2006
Edgar Holloway has quite a loose drawing style. He was an artist, not an architectural renderer so there’s not the same necessity for accuracy of perspective. His treatment reminds me of Charles Meryon.